Don’t Walk Away
“It’s hopeless.”
This is a common refrain around my house, usually arising from my thirteen year-old when he has to study for a test. A little bit melodramatic for sure, but that’s my son (or, rather, this age) in a nutshell. There are times when he feels it is physically impossible for his brain to hold any more information. This is usually where I suggest he take a break, take a walk and, when he returns, let me help. And, this is also usually where my son will mutter (once again), “Why? There’s no point. It’s hopeless.”
Even though he knows I am willing and able to help, he refuses to ask because, in his mind, there’s nothing I can do in this hopeless situation. I can’t implant the knowledge in his brain, can’t learn it for him. So why bother?
Do you ever feel that way about Jesus sometimes?
When faced with a situation that seems completely and utterly hopeless, do you ever neglect asking Him for help? You know it’s what you’re supposed to do–what He wants you to do–but you simply don’t have the heart to do it. Because, honestly, what could He possibly do? When you lose a loved one, when your marriage is past the point of repair, when your wayward child makes yet another bad choice. These situations are heavy. Difficult. And, especially when you’ve pleaded for intervention over and over again, there sometimes comes a point where you just don’t have the energy to ask anymore.
I get it. I understand. And so did the people in Jesus’s time.
In Luke 8, we meet a man named Jarius. He was a leader of the synagogue and…his twelve year-old daughter was dying. Though it doesn’t explicitly say, I can imagine this man had prayed a hole through the floor of heaven, begging for healing for his daughter. We don’t know exactly what was wrong with her or how long it had been going on. All we know is that, when Jesus showed up, “he fell down at [His] feet and pleaded with him to come to his house.” (verse 41b) These are not the actions of a man full of confidence and energy. These are the actions of a desperate man, down to his last thread of hope.
However, before Jesus could do anything for Jarius, “someone came from the synagogue leader’s house anded said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Don’t bother the teacher anymore.'” (verse 49)
Pause for a moment here. Picture the scene. A large crowd of people, all pressing in to Jesus, all with their own worries, illnesses, needs. And, among them, Jarius, an anguished father, shooting a shot in the dark at the eleventh hour…only to be told it’s too late. His daughter is dead.
And–worst of all–people telling him he should not bother Jesus anymore because his particular request is no longer relevant. The situation is, without a doubt, hopeless. There’s nothing Jesus can do now. So stop asking; leave Him alone. Can you even imagine?
Thankfully, I have never experienced the death of a child. But…I think I can imagine what the man was feeling. I, too, have been in situations so hopeless that a part of me has wondered if I should just leave Jesus alone. Maybe the situation has been going on so long without a resolution or else I can’t imagine any possible way He could fix it.
It’s hopeless. I should stop bothering Him.
And, friend, I can imagine that you might know what that feels like too.
But here’s the beautiful thing: Jesus never sees things as we do.
Things are never hopeless…so long as we keep the faith.
“When Jesus heard it, he answered him, ‘Don’t be afraid. Only believe, and she will be saved.’ After he came to the house, he let no one enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother. Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But he said, ‘Stop crying, because she is not dead but asleep.’…So he took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got up at once…” (verses 50-55a).
Please notice several things here: first of all, Jesus wasn’t governed by what those around Him said was impossible. Secondly, amid the press of the crowd, He took Jarius and a few of His disciples to Jarius’s house. In that moment–Jarius’s weakest–His attention was solely on the man and His need. The noise, the crowds, the words: none of it mattered to Jesus. His heart was with Jarius and his family. And, lastly, Jesus did the impossible: he brought Jarius’s daughter back to life.
But what if Jarius had listened to the voices in the crowd (or, perhaps, the voices inside his own head), telling him he should walk away from Jesus? To not bother Him anymore because the situation was hopeless. He would have missed this beautiful opportunity for faith and restoration.
So friends, let us not stop praying. In hopeless situations, let us cling to hope, even if it’s only by a string. Let us search out light in the darkness, warmth in the cold, peace in the chaos. Even when those around us–or our own hearts–beg us to stop seeking Him, trusting Him.
Bothering Him.
Because you’re never really bothering Him. And you never know when Jesus is going to step in and make the impossible possible.
